Adjustable mounting bracket for a stair rail assembly

ABSTRACT

A bracket for mounting a rail to a vertical post. The bracket includes a base with an arcuate front wall and a housing that is selectively movable along that front wall. The housing itself has an arcuate front wall that is oriented at right angles to the arcuate front wall of the base. The bracket further includes a rail connector that is selectively movable along the front wall of the housing. The rail connector engages an end of the rail and holds the rail at both a vertical and a horizontal angle relative the post. The vertical and horizontal angle of the rail to the post can be changed by selectively moving the rail connector along the front wall of the housing and moving the housing along the front wall of the base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention generally relates to fencing systems. More particularly,the invention relates to a rail mounting bracket. Specifically, theinvention relates to a bracket that secures a rail to a vertical postand is adjustable to hold the rail and a range of vertical andhorizontal angles relative to the post.

2. Background Information

The construction of a stair rail assembly requires that a hand and footrail be secured between the vertical posts on either end of thestaircase at an angle. When the stair rail assembly is being assembledfrom vinyl rails and posts, the installation requires more than simplybutting the rail up to the post and driving a fastener into the same.

There have been several rail mounting brackets disclosed in the art foraccomplishing this installation. These include devices disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,698,726; 6,986,505; 7,044,451 and 7,147,212 to the presentinventor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,232 issued to Francis and U.S. Pat. No.5,026,028 issued to Ooi et al have also disclosed brackets that permitan angular mounting of a rail to a post. These previously known bracketsare suitable for installations where the staircase and the rails oneither side thereof are substantially parallel to each other. In theseinstances, the rail needs to be able to be set at a particular anglerelative to the vertical and the above-referenced patents disclosebrackets that enable this vertical angle to be selected. Theinstallation is more complex when the staircase is wider at one end thanat the other end. In these instances, the rails then have to angledownwardly from the top of the staircase to the bottom thereof and, atthe same time, also have to diverge away from each other. Mounting theserails at the proper vertical and horizontal angle relative to the postsand to each other is more difficult.

There is therefore a need in the art for an improved rail mountingbracket for use in diverging staircases that allows for the installationof a rail at both a vertical and horizontal angle relative to the post.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device of the present invention is a bracket for mounting a rail toa vertical post. The bracket includes a base with an arcuate front walland a housing that is selectively movable along that front wall. Thehousing itself has an arcuate front wall that is oriented at rightangles to the arcuate front wall of the base. The bracket furtherincludes a rail connector that is selectively movable along the frontwall of the housing. The rail connector engages an end of the rail andholds the rail at both a vertical and a horizontal angle relative thepost. The vertical and horizontal angle of the rail to the post can bechanged by selectively moving the rail connector along the front wall ofthe housing and moving the housing along the front wall of the base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention, illustrative of the bestmode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles, areset forth in the following description and are shown in the drawings andare particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in theappended claims.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a staircase incorporating theadjustable rail mounting brackets in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the adjustable rail mounting bracketconnecting a rail to a vertical post with the bracket shown in aposition where the rail extends outwardly away from the vertical postand with the rail being disposed substantially horizontally and incoplanar alignment with the longitudinal axis of the post;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rail mounting bracket securing therail to the post and showing the rail positioned at an angle to thehorizontal and at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the post;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the component parts ofthe rail mounting bracket;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the rail connector shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the rail connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the housing of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the housing taken through line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the base of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a is a bottom view of the base of FIG. 4 and taken throughline 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a top view of the bracket mounting the rail to the post andshowing the possible range of horizontal adjustment the bracketprovides;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the bracket mounting the rail to the post andshowing the possible range of vertical adjustment the bracket provides;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional side view of the bracket mounting the railto the post taken through line 13-13 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13A is an enlargement of the highlighted area taken from FIG. 13;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional top view of the bracket mounting the railto the post taken through line 14-14 of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 14A is an enlargement of the highlighted area taken from FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-14A there is shown a staircase 20 including aplurality of stairs 22, upper and lower vertical posts 24, 26, upper andlower rails 28, 30 and a plurality of spindles 32. Each rail 28, 30 issecured to one of posts 24, 26 by a rail mounting bracket 34 inaccordance with the present invention. Staircase 20 is narrower at thetop end 20 a between upper posts 24 than at the bottom end 26 b betweenlower posts 26. Each rail 28, 30 angles vertically downwardly from topend 20 a of staircase to bottom end 20 a thereof. Furthermore, 28 a, 30a diverge outwardly away from rails 28 b, 30 b from top end 20 a ofstaircase to the bottom end 20 b thereof.

FIGS. 1 & 4 are provided with a directional reference showing a verticalaxis Y and a horizontal axis X disposed at right angles to each other.For the purposes of this description, the Y-axis can be considered toaligned along a centerline that extends between the top and bottom ofthe side wall of post 24 as shown in FIG. 4. The X-axis is disposed atright angles thereto. Brackets 34 are provided to secure rails 28, 30 toposts 24, 26 and to allow an installer to adjust the angle the railrelative to the X and Y axes.

It will be understood brackets 34 all mount an end of one of rails 28,30 to one of posts 24, 26 in a substantially identical manner. By way ofexample, FIGS. 2&3 show hand rail 28 secured to post 24 by bracket 34.Bracket 34 comprises three component parts namely a base 36, a housing38 and a rail connector 40. Base 36 is secured to the side wall of post24. Housing 38 engages base 36 and rail connector 40 engages housing 38.An end of rail 28 is received in rail connector 40 so that rail 28 iseffectively connected to post 24 and extends outwardly away therefrom.

In accordance with the present invention, the position of housing 38relative to base 36 may be adjusted. Furthermore, the position of railconnector 40 relative to housing 38 may be adjusted. These adjustmentsallow the installer to angle the rail 28 upwardly or downwardly and fromone side of post 24 to the other as will be hereinafter described.

Referring to FIGS. 4-10, base 36 has an arcuate front wall 42 and a pairof opposed side walls 44, 46. Front and side walls 42, 44, 46 may beintegrally formed or may be connected to each other in a suitablemanner. Front wall 42 is convex and substantially semicircular in shapewhen viewed from the side. Front wall 42 has interior edges 48 that abutpost 24 when base 36 is mounted thereon. Base 36 has a longitudinal axis“R” (FIG. 9) that extends from one interior edge 48 to the otherinterior edge. When base 36 is mounted on post 24, the longitudinal axisR of base 36 is substantially aligned with the vertical axis Y of post24. Front wall 42 of base 36 describes an arc about an axis disposed atright angles to the longitudinal axis R of base. Side walls 44, 46 areplanar members that are substantially semi-circular in shape. Side walls44, 46 are recessed inwardly from an outer edge 50 of front wall 42 sothat a semi-circular lip 52 is formed along the outer edge 50. A pair ofspaced apart projections 54 (FIG. 10) are molded into base 36 and extendinwardly from an interior surface of front wall 42 and toward a planealigned with interior edges 48. Projections 54 are formed with a widerfirst region 54 a and a narrower second region 54 b and define a borethat extends therethrough. The bore has an opening 56 in front wall 42through which a fastener 58 may be introduced to secure base 36 to post24. A shoulder 62 is formed where first region 54 a of projection 54narrows to second region 54 b thereof. When a fastener 58 is introducedinto the bore and is screwed into post 24, the head 60 of fastener 58abuts shoulder 62.

Referring still to FIGS. 4-10, housing 38 comprises a front wall 64, atop wall 66, a bottom wall 68 and side walls 70, 72. Front wall 64 isarcuate in shape and joins side walls 70, 72 at side edges 74, 76 (FIG.7). As illustrated in these figures, front wall 64 describes an arcabout the Y-axis. Front, top, bottom and side walls 64-72 surround anddefine a cavity 78 into which at least a portion of front wall 42 ofbase 36 is received. A groove 80 is formed at the junction of front wall64 with side wall 70 and at the junction of front wall 64 and side wall72. As shown in FIG. 8, grooves 80 are substantially semicircular inshape. The grooves 80 describe and arc about the X-axis and havesubstantially the same radius of curvature as front wall 42 of base.Grooves 80 are therefore complementary and configured to tightly receivelip 52 of base 36 therein and thereby secure base 36 and housing 38together. The engagement of a lip 52 in one of grooves 80 is shown inFIG. 14A.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a dovetailsocket 82 is defined in front wall 64 of housing 38. Socket 82 issubstantially aligned parallel to the X-axis and extends from side wall70 through to side wall 72. Preferably, socket 82 is formed in frontwall 64 about midway between top wall 66 and bottom wall 68.

Referring still to FIGS. 4-10, rail connector 40 includes a rear wall84, a top wall 86, a bottom wall 88, and side walls 90, 92. Rear wall 84is arcuate in shape, describing an arc about the Y-axis. As shown inFIG. 6, rear wall 84 is concave and has substantially the same radius ofcurvature as front wall 64 of housing 38. In accordance with anotherfeature of the present invention, a dovetail tail 98 is molded into theinterior surface of rear wall 84 and approximately midway between topwall 86 and bottom wall 88. Tail 98 extends rearwardly from rear wall 84and is complementary to socket 82. When rail connector 40 is engagedwith housing 38, the interior surface of rear wall 84 abuts front wall64 and tail 98 is tightly received in socket 82.

Top, bottom and side walls 86-92 of rail connector 40 extend forwardlyfrom an exterior surface of rear wall 84 and surround and define areceptacle 94. Receptacle 94 is complementary in shape and size toreceive the end of rail 28 therein. A plurality of detents 96 areprovided on one or more of interior surfaces of top, bottom and sidewalls 86-92 or on exterior surface of rear wall 84. Detents 96 extendinto receptacle 94 and act as spacers to aid in limiting the degree towhich the end of rail 28 is received in receptacle 94.

Bracket 34 is assembled and used in the following manner. Pilot holes106 are drilled into side wall of post 24. Housing 38 and base 36 areinterlockingly engaged by positioning front wall 42 of base 36 in cavity78 of housing 38 and sliding lips 52 of front wall 42 into grooves 80.Alternatively, front wall 42 of base 36 can be positioned within cavity78 and housing 38 can be pushed inwardly toward base 36. This movementwill cause side walls 70, 72 to flex slightly outwardly, allowing lips52 to slide along an interior surface of side walls 70, 72 and intogrooves 80. Once lips 52 are engaged in grooves 80, base 36 and housing38 are interlocked with each other and housing 38 may be slidingly movedalong the arcuate front wall 42 of base 36.

Base 36 is then secured to the side wall of post 24. In order toaccomplish this, housing 38 is moved in a first direction along frontwall 42 to allow the installer to gain access to one of the openings 56therein. Interior edges 48 of base 36 are brought into abutting contactwith post 24 and the bores in the projection 54 is aligned with holes106. A fastener 58 is introduced into the exposed opening 56 on frontwall 42 and is threaded into hole 106 and thereby into interlockingengagement with the side wall of the post 24. Housing 38 is slidingmoved along front wall 42 of base 36 in a second direction until theother of the openings 56 in front wall 42 is exposed. A second fastener106 is introduced into this second opening 56 and is threaded intoengagement with the side wall of the post 24.

Once base 36 is fixedly secured to post 24, rail connector 40 is engagedwith housing 38. This is accomplished by positioning connector 40 sothat one of side walls 90, 92 thereof is adjacent one of side walls 72,74 of housing 38. Connector 40 is moved toward the other of the sidewalls 72, 74 so that tail 98 slides into socket 82 and rear wall 84 ofconnector 40 abuts front wall 64 of housing. Preferably, socket 82 isshaped so that the end regions thereof defined in the side walls 70, 72are slightly narrowed. This makes it harder to engage tail 98 in socket82, but also substantially prevents tail 98 from being easily pushed outof socket 82. Alternatively, socket 82 can be formed to terminate adistance inwardly from one of side walls 70, 72 so that tail 98 can beintroduced into and removed from socket 82 in only one direction. Whentail 98 is retained in socket 82, rail connector 40 may be slidinglymoved along the arcuate front wall 64 of housing 38.

Once base 36, housing 38 and rail connector 40 are engaged with eachother, the installer will adjust the various components of bracket 34 sothat when the end of rail 28 is engaged in bracket 34, the rail willextend outwardly from post 24 in a desired orientation. In order to setbracket 34 so that it will hold rail 28 in the desired manner, theinstaller moves housing 38 along front wall 42 of base 36 so as toposition the housing 38 at a desired angle relative to the X-axis. Theinstaller adjusts the position of the rail connector 40 along the frontwall 64 of housing 38 so as to position the rail connector 40 at adesired angle relative to the Y-axis. Once rail connector 40 and housing38 are positioned at the desired orientations relative to each other andto the X and Y axes, the installer may insert a fastener 110 through theindentation 108 in rear wall 84 of rail connector 40, through front wall64 of housing 38 and into front wall 42 to base 36 to lock the threecomponents in their relative positions.

For example, in FIG. 12, the installer has slidingly moved housing 38along the arcuate front wall 42 of base 36 so that housing 38 isdisposed at an angle α relative to the X-axis. The angle α determinesthe angle at which rail 28 will ultimately extend downwardly away frompost 28. So, for example if angle α is 45 degrees to the X-axis, thenrail 28 will extend downwardly and outwardly from post 24 at an angle of45 degrees. FIG. 12 also illustrates, in phantom, that housing 38 may beslid upwardly along arcuate outer wall 42 through an angle α′ relativeto the X-axis. If the angle α′ is 45 degrees above the X-axis, then rail28 will extending upwardly and outwardly away from post 24 at an angleof 45 degrees. It will be understood that since front wall 42 issubstantially semicircular and housing 38 is larger than base 36, thehousing 38 will likely only be able to be moved through an angle α ofless than 90 degrees from the horizontal before the top or bottom walls66, 68 thereof strike the side wall of post 24. It will be understood,however, that the relative sizes of the housing 38, base 36 and the sizeof angle α that housing 38 can be moved through are a matter of designchoice.

FIG. 11 illustrates rail connector 40 positioned on housing 38 at anangle β to the Y-axis through point A. If the angle β is 30 degreesrelative to the Y-axis, then the rail 28 will extend outwardly to theleft hand side of post 24 at an angle of 30 degrees. FIG. 11 shows inphantom that rail connector can be positioned along front wall 64 ofhousing and an angle β′ relative to the Y-axis passing through point A.In this instance, the rail 28 will extend outwardly toward the righthand side of post 24. It will be understood that the angle β isconstrained by the curvature of front wall 64 of housing 38 and therelative sizes of the housing 38 and base 36. Rail connector 40 shouldbe adjustable through an angle β of around 180 degrees. It will beunderstood, that the relative sizes of the housing 38, base 36 and thesize of angle β are a matter of design choice.

If the relative positions of rail connector 40, housing 38 and bracket36 are a combination of those shown in FIG. 11 and 12, then rail 28 willextend downwardly and to the left hand side of post 24 and will beoriented at an angle of 45 degrees to the X-axis and 30 degrees to theY-axis.

FIG. 14 shows an end of rail 28 inserted into receptacle 94 in connector40. When the edge 28 a of rail 28 abuts detents 96, rail 28 is at itsmaximum point of insertion into receptacle 94. Fasteners 102 areinserted through holes 100 in side walls 90, 92 of rail connector 40 andare screwed into engagement with the side walls of rail 28.

It will be understood that bracket 34 may be mounted on post 24 in sucha way that front wall 42 of base 36 describes an arc about the Y-axisand front wall 64 of housing 38 describes an arc about the X-axis.However, this orientation of bracket 34 is less suitable because whenrail 28 is inserted into rail connector 40, the weight of rail 28 willtend to cause rail connector 40 to want to slide out of engagement withhousing 38. This will place any fastener used to secure base 36, housing38 and rail connector 40 together under stress and may lead to failureof the bracket 34.

It will be understood that the arcuate front walls of the base andhousing are disposed at right angles to each other so that a first ofthe front walls permits adjustment in a vertical plane and the secondfront wall permits adjustment in a horizontal plane. It should beunderstood that the vertical and horizontal adjustment can be providedby either one of the base and housing front walls. Furthermore, whilethe bracket of the present invention has been disclosed to have a baseand a housing that each have a convex front wall and that the railconnector has a concave rear wall, it should be understood that thebase, housing and rail connector may be differently formed. For example,the base may be provided with a concave front wall and then the groovein the housing is formed with a concave orientation to be engageabletherewith. Furthermore, the housing may be provided with a concave frontwall that engages a convex rear wall of the rail connector. In allinstances, the base, housing and rail connector are formed withcomplementary arcuate surfaces that allow the three components tofittingly engage each other and which are individually selectivelyadjusted to vary one or both of the horizontal and vertical orientationof the rail.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because suchterms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadlyconstrued.

Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is anexample and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown ordescribed.

1. A bracket for mounting a rail to a vertical post, wherein saidbracket comprises: a base adapted to abut a side wall of the post; saidbase having a first axis extending between a first and second endthereof, and wherein a front wall of said base describes an arc about asecond axis that is oriented at right angles to the first axis; ahousing engageable with the base and being adjustably movable along thefront wall thereof; and wherein said housing includes a front wall thatdescribes an arc about an axis substantially parallel to the first axisof the base; and a rail connector engageable with the housing and beingadjustably movable along the front wall of the housing; and wherein saidrail connector is adapted to engage an end of the rail; and whereinmovement of the housing along the front wall of the base changes theorientation of the rail in one of a vertical and a horizontal plane andmovement of the rail connector along the front wall of the housingchanges the orientation of the rail in the other of the vertical andhorizontal plane.
 2. The bracket as defined in claim 1, wherein thefront wall of the base is substantially semicircular and convex inshape.
 3. The bracket as defined in claim 2, wherein the front wall ofthe housing is convex in shape.
 4. The bracket as defined in claim 2,wherein the base further includes a pair of opposed side walls, eachside wall extending between the first and second ends and joining thefront wall of the base along an outer edge.
 5. The bracket as defined inclaim 4, wherein the front wall of the base further includes a lipformed along each of the outer edges, and wherein each lip extends for adistance outwardly beyond one of the side walls.
 6. The bracket asdefined in claim 5, wherein the base further includes at least oneprojection that extends inwardly from an interior surface of the frontwall and substantially parallel to the side walls, and wherein saidprojection defines a bore adapted to receive a fastener therethrough andsaid bore has an opening in the front wall of the base.
 7. The bracketas defined in claim 6, wherein the housing further includes at least twoside walls extending rearwardly away from the front wall of the housing;and wherein each of the side wall of the housing defines an arcuategroove therein; each groove being complementary to one of the lips onthe base; and wherein said lips are engageable in the grooves to securethe base and housing together.
 8. The bracket as defined in claim 7,wherein the housing is adjustably movable on the front wall of the baseby sliding the housing along the lips of the base.
 9. The bracket asdefined in claim 8, wherein the front wall of the housing includes oneof a dovetail socket and a tail that is oriented substantially at rightangles to the first axis of the.
 10. The bracket as defined in claim 9,wherein the rail connector includes an arcuate rear wall that iscomplementary in shape to the front wall of the housing.
 11. The bracketas defined in claim 10, wherein the rear wall defines the other of thedovetail socket and tail; and wherein the tail is receivable in thesocket to retain the housing and rail connector together.
 12. Thebracket as defined in claim 11, wherein the rail connector furtherincludes a peripheral wall extending forwardly and outwardly away fromthe rear wall thereof; and wherein said peripheral wall is adapted toengage the end of the rail.
 13. The bracket as defined in claim 12,wherein the peripheral wall defines a receptacle which is adapted toreceive the end of the rail therein.
 14. The bracket as defined in claim13, wherein the rail connector further includes one detent extendingfrom one of the peripheral wall and rear wall and into the receptacle,said detent being adapted to contact the end of the rail and limit itstravel into the receptacle.
 15. The bracket as defined in claim 1,further comprising a fastener for securing the rail connector, housingand base together.
 16. A staircase assembly comprising: a pair of upperposts mounted vertically at the top end of a diverging staircase; a pairof lower posts mounted vertically at the bottom end of the staircase,wherein the upper vertical posts are positioned horizontally closer toeach other than are the lower posts; at least two rails, each railextending between one of the upper posts and one of the lower posts; aplurality of brackets, each bracket engaging an end of one of the railsand being mounted to a side wall of one of the upper and lower posts,whereby the rail extends outwardly from the bracket and away from thepost at an angle; and wherein said bracket is adjustable to change theangle at which the rail extends from the post in both a vertical and ahorizontal direction.
 17. The staircase assembly as defined in claim 16,wherein each bracket comprises: a base that is secured to the post, saidbase having a front wall that defines an arc about one of a vertical anda horizontal axis; a housing that is selectively movable along the frontwall of the base between a first and second position; said housinghaving a front wall that defines a second arc about the other of thevertical and horizontal axes; and a rail connector having a rear wallthat is selectively movable along the front wall of the housing betweena third and fourth position; and wherein the rail connector defines areceptacle that extends forwardly and outwardly away from the rear wallthereof; said receptacle receiving the end of one of the rails therein,whereby the rail extends outwardly away from the rear wall of the railconnector
 18. The staircase assembly as defined in claim 17, wherein thebase is secured to the post so that a longitudinal axis of the base issubstantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the post; and the frontwall of the base defines a convex arc about an axis disposed at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of the base.
 19. The staircase assemblyas defined in claim 18, wherein the front wall of the housing describesa convex arc about an axis disposed substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the base.
 20. A method of connecting a rail to avertical post at one end of a diverging staircase, said methodcomprising the steps of: mounting a base onto the vertical post;slidably engaging a housing onto an arcuate front wall of the base;slidably engaging a rail connector onto an arcuate front wall of thehousing; sliding the housing in one of a first and a second directionalong the front wall of the base and about an axis disposedsubstantially at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the base;sliding the rail connector in one of a third and a fourth directionalong the front wall of the housing and about an axis that issubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base; andengaging an end of the rail in a receptacle on the rail connector.